Welcome again to The Flyover, your each day digest of vital, ignored, and/or fascinating Minnesota information tales.
Lose a Tree, Gain a Cat (Record-Wise)
First it was Oar Folkjokeopus, the south Minneapolis report store that steadily housed the famously shit-housed Replacements. In 2001, it grew to become Mark Trehus’s Treehouse Records, which held down a nook of twenty sixth & Lyndale till 2017, when its doorways slammed closed. But the Strib’s Chris Riemenschneider (whose identify I’ve by no means tried to freestyle spell) has excellent news for vinyl freaks close to Whittier: The storied storefront will lastly reopen this summer season as Lucky Cat Records with first-time music vendor Michele Swanson on the helm.
“It was that location particularly that bought me enthusiastic about opening a report retailer,” Swanson tells Riemenschneider. “It simply looks like that is what must be there.” Trehus, who nonetheless owns the building, agrees: “My initial thought was that the neighborhood had become [too] gentrified… I am thrilled that someone wants to keep a record store in that spot.”
Expect an extra-welcoming atmosphere (think the opposite of High Fidelity), and don’t read into the WELLSTONE window sign coming down; Swanson, an avid collector who worked for years as a manager at Delta Airlines, reports it had simply deteriorated beyond repair. The store is being tidied and remodeled at the moment, and its new proprietor is eyeing a grand-opening bash sometime in July. Speaking of record stores, Saturday is Record Store Day 2024—check out our buddy Erik Thompson’s guide to Twin Cities happenings over at The Current.
This is Too Much to Graupel With
It’s mid-April, it was 70 degrees out less than a week ago—at this point, you never want to look outside and see white stuff falling. But Fool’s Spring got us as it always does, and this week we’ve been blessed with cloudy skies, whipping winds, and… I’m sorry, graupel?
That’s right folks, the precipitation we saw Friday morning was neither rain nor sleet nor snow nor hail but instead a mysterious fifth thing: graupel, according to Sven Sundgaard at MPR. Sundgaard writes that graupel, which is pronounced “graa·pl” if Google is to be believed, looks kind of like Dippin’ Dots. Sleet is clear, hard, and frozen; hail is a ball of layered ice formed in strong updrafts; snow is formed when water vapor turns to ice without becoming a liquid. Graupel, on the other hand, “forms when super cooled water droplets freeze onto snow flakes,” which is called “riming.” (Careful Googling that…)
That’s what occurred this morning: A layer of super-cooled water droplets was hanging out 4,000 or so ft above the bottom, after which snow flakes shaped above and fell by them, giving us the stunning graupel that briefly dusted the Twin Cities. Weather! What cannot it do?
How Hosed Are the Twins?
As you’ll have seen, the hometown 9 are a tedious, irritating chore to observe this season. At 6-11, the sparkless squad is hacking away on the plate whereas the pitchers surrender dingers at an MLB-worst fee.
Writes Aaron Gleeman of the The Athletic on this numerical breakdown of the workforce’s woes: “‘It’s still early’ is usually the most calming mantra for frustrated baseball fans, reminding them that, no matter how hopeless their team’s season may feel in the midst of an awful start, the six-month, 162-game marathon provides no shortage of chances for redemption. Of course, ‘it’s still early’ can also sound like a threat if the awful start turns out to be an awful team.”
Gleeman cites disconcerting numbers, like Twins batters hitting .193—the second-worst mark for an AL workforce by 17 video games in 50 years. Yet different figures sign no less than some hope that Rocco Baldelli’s boys can flip issues round, like 214 days missed to damage (the third-most within the bigs) and a mixed opponent successful share of .564 (hardest AL schedule so far).
The most reassuring quantity, in keeping with Gleeman? The undeniable fact that 145 video games stay, starting with tonight’s homestand-opener towards division mates Detroit. And it is Friday, which means you possibly can no less than win the gluttony sport by way of Target Field’s all-you-can-eat particular—this is how a lot we will eat.
4/20 Blaze It
That’s about sufficient information, eh people? Let’s lean into the weekend with among the THC-y issues which might be occurring in the course of the first 4/20 with authorized weed in Minnesota. The Star Tribune’s Matt DeLong has an inventory of 33 weed-themed occasions you possibly can partake of this weekend, from a 21+ smokeout at Hi Flora! to a Trail Magic Earth Day Hike from Minneapolis Cider Co. (We noticed no less than one occasion lacking from the damn-near complete checklist: Vernal Vibrations at Marigold, the place the NA bottle store may have a particular “golden hour” menu.)
And new neighborhood publication Longfellow Whatever explores the “Lake Street Weed District” right now, stopping by a quartet of weedy locations, lots of that are throwing celebrations of their very own this weekend. Ex-Gov. Jesse Ventura will ship the keynote tackle on the Hook & Ladder launch celebration for his new boutique weed model, Ventura Farms; he instructed us right now by telephone that he by no means prepares speeches prematurely, so who is aware of what the hell he’ll say? Have enjoyable and have a good time responsibly, my pals!
